Support Oak Knoll

Public Art at Oak Knoll

Nestled at the base of Oakland's Southern foothills, the Oak Knoll planned community is the culmination of a collaborative effort on the part of the City of Oakland, residents and California developer SunCal to reinvigorate and revitalize one of the most significant properties in the Bay Area.

8,000 New native trees are coming to Oak Knoll!

SunCal has recently applied for a permit to remove 3,567 trees from the property, more than half of which are non-native trees or in poor or extremely poor health. The City of Oakland and the Fire Department view that clearing eucalyptus trees and other non-native plants will help to deter another deadly firestorm like the one that whipped through the hills in 1991. But trees are an integral part...

Located on site of the former Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Oak Knoll will be a pedestrian friendly plan and designed oriented around the restored creek for a highly livable community.

For 54 years the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital treated American servicemen including those wounded during WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam. It was closed in 1996 and sat vacant for another 16 years during which the site and its buildings were vandalized and left in extreme disrepair.

SunCal is excited to be a part of the transformation of this unique property and honoring the history of this important place in the planning. We are pleased to be continuing the dialogue we began in 2006, reacquainting with the neighbors and meeting with community members interested in learning about the Oak Knoll development.

Vibrant Neighborhoods

The transformation of this site into vibrant neighborhoods, open spaces and public parks is a collective vision created in collaboration with the surrounding communities. It pays tribute to Oak Knoll’s important history.

Community information, including facilities, uses, availability and amenities, are subject to change at any time without notice or obligation. Illustrations, photographs, square footages and features are approximate for illustration purposes only.

News & Updates

Oak Knoll Hotline for our Neighbors

While the public review of Oak’s Knoll’s proposed master plan continues with the City of Oakland, the development team is doing itsbest to keep the property secure from trespassers so that we are a good neighbor to residents in the surrounding area.

If you should see unusual activity on the property, please call (800) 379-2465.

8,000 New native trees are coming to Oak Knoll!

SunCal has recently applied for a permit to remove 3,567 trees from the property, more than half of which are non-native trees or in poor or extremely poor health. The City of Oakland and the Fire Department view that clearing eucalyptus trees and other non-native plants will help to deter another deadly firestorm like the one that whipped through the hills in 1991. But trees are an integral part of the Oak Knoll development plan, and that’s why we’re committed to a program of planting native, non-invasive trees in our community.

Since 2015, we have been working with a team of ISA-certified arborists to actually inventory and assess the condition of trees within the project area in accordance with the Oakland Tree Protection Ordinance. That means we had a team of people literally counting every tree above 6 inches in diameter. Can you imagine having that job?

As it turns out that there are now more than 7,000 trees on the property, and when we are finished with the project, there will be more than 11,000 – an increase of more than 50%!

As many of you are aware, it has long been our goal to create a master development that integrates that natural environment with the community. Preservation has been a consistent theme during our many public meetings and our plan does exactly that.

In working to restore the site, for every tree that is removed we will be planting more than two more. That’s nearly 8,500 new native trees across more than 40 acres of the project area. Native trees on the property are predominantly Coast Live Oak but also include Bay Laurel and Willow among a few other species.

Removing non-native trees and trees in poor health and replacing them with native trees is only one piece of our broader restoration effort. The project also calls for the addition of native flowers, grasses and shrubs, restoration of the entire Rifle Range Creek (which is largely under concrete today) and doubling the amount of riparian woodlands from 7 acres to 16 acres to support local wildlife.

In addition, the arborists have identified a group of grand oak specimen trees that will be moved to live a full life either on or off-site of the property. In addition, we are in conversations with a tree company to salvage many viable trees for relocation.

When the project is complete, there will be more trees on site than when the property was originally purchased from the Navy in 2006. The Oak Knoll Community plan also sets aside nearly 50% of the entire 187 acres as public open space and parks linked through a series of trails designed to flow with the many preserved and newly planted native trees. The result will be a far more accessible place for the public to enjoy trees and the outdoors.

Traffic Topics More on how we plan to address impacts on traffic

As we continue to meet with our surrounding neighbors, traffic has become a common topic of discussion. We are aware that traffic is a concern for many as the area has long suffered from a lack of improvements. The City’s traffic study revealed that only a small portion of the necessary improvements were attributed to Oak Knoll; however, we have offered to construct 100% of the traffic improvements in exchange for a credit toward the traffic impact fees that cover the full cost of these improvements. The full improvements will, therefore, be installed early to benefit our current neighbors. The full improvements identified in the traffic study will be installed and the City may retain reimbursements from other developments that are responsible to share in the cost of improvements, for use elsewhere. The City’s traffic study identified the following improvements to intersections and ramps that require upgrades.

Traffic signals will be installed at the Kuhnle Avenue/Seminary Avenue on-ramp and the Kuhnle Avenue/ Frontage Road off-ramp. The 580 Eastbound off-ramp at Fontaine Street/Keller Avenue will receive a new traffic signal; the Mountain Boulevard/580 Westbound off-ramp/ Shone Avenue will receive a new traffic signal, and the ramp will be re-striped to provided one left-turn lane and one shared left-turn/right-turn lane.

Mountain Boulevard/Keller Avenue will receive re-striping of the eastbound Keller Avenue approach to provide one shared through/leftturn lane and through/right-turn lane; re-striping of the westbound Keller Avenue approach to provide one shared through/left-turn lane and one right-turn lane; re-striping of southbound Mountain Boulevard to provide one left-turn lane and one right-turn lane; and installation of a new traffic signal.

Additionally, the 580 Eastbound offramp at 98th Avenue/Golf Links Road will receive extended off-ramp storage capacity; re-striping of the eastbound Golf Links Road approach to provide one left-turn lane and one shared through/left turn lane; and traffic signal timing will be optimized. The 580 Westbound ramps/Golf Links Road will receive widening of the offramp to provide one shared through/ left-turn lane and two right-turn lanes; and optimization of the traffic signal timing.

At Mountain Boulevard/Oakland Zoo Driveway/Golf Links Road, there will be re-striping of the eastbound Golf Links Road approach to provide one left-turn lane and shared left-turn/ through/right-turn lane; and a traffic signal will be installed. It is also our understanding that the councilmember for this district has had discussions with the Zoo that could possibly help traffic at Golf Links Road.

Traffic specific to the 580
As a major vein of transportation in Oakland, the accessibility to 580 is an important issue for us. Traffic on the I-580 Freeway itself is a matter under the jurisdiction of Caltrans and not within the scope of our project or the City of Oakland. However, our project would bring mitigations to several 580 ramps and key traffic points among our off-site transportation improvements. Details of these improvements are explained in the previous traffic section.

More on who is making the decisions about improvements
We have worked closely with the City of Oakland to ensure all appropriate measures were taken when creating our plan. The traffic improvements are identified in the City of Oakland’s EIR traffic report for this project, and an independent traffic engineering firm determined the needed improvements. The cost, reimbursements and credits for installing the improvements, and their timing, are currently under discussion with the City.

Roadway points of access
Safety, convenience and practicality are the three major elements we considered when planning the access points to our property. There will be six access points into the completed community. Two main entries on Keller and Mountain; one secondary entry on Mountain; one secondary entry on Keller; one entry into the retail center from Mountain; and one Emergency Vehicle Access at Barcelona and Sequoyah Hills. The importance of having a roadway accessing Oak Knoll from Keller Ave. The safety of our community is our top priority. As such, the access at the top of Keller Avenue is an important contributor to the safety of residents within and around Oak Knoll in the event of a fire or other catastrophe. The community design has been thoroughly planned and considered with emergency access requirements in mind.

Important Notice:
On June 7, the Oakland Planning Commission will be discussing our project plan. It is extremely important that you attend and represent your neighborhood. There will be time allotted for public comment, so come prepared to offer your statement of support!